The other big news today is that we're expecting the ISBN for AQUAMARINE tomorrow, latest, and the book will be available next week -- just as soon as we've uploaded it, ordered up a copy, and made sure there are no (hacking sounds) font issues. It only takes five days to get a book from Lulu now: they secured an Australian digital partner at last.
(This didn't make the books any cheaper, but it sure makes them faster. We had expected the cost to Aussie readers to come down a bit, but it didn't, and the reason dawns on you eventually. Things are a lot more expensive in this country than in the States. They wouldn't be able to lower their prices, even though the books are made and shipped locally.) Ah, the thrills of POD work.
We're quite excited about the reissue of Aquamarine. It's been a fantastic opportunity for me to go through the manuscript and MEND IT. As you probably recall, this was the novel that went to the printer, in 1999, without even being proofread, much less edited. Millivres appeared to print exactly what I sent them -- I never saw a galley proof. One day I emailed the files to London; six or eight months later, a box of books appeared in the mailbox, and you can imagine my reaction. Stunned mullet? Whacked silly? Jaw trailing on floor? It's a writer's worst nightmare come true, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, when it's happened.
To this day, I hear remarks like, "Keegan needs a better editor" (they mean, I need a good PROOFREADER, which was true till I signed with DreamCraft, and I have nothing but praise for them. Even worse, "Aquamarine has spelling mistakes." They mean TYPOGRAPHICAL errors. Doesn't it carbonize your noodles, the way some people call a typo a spelling error? As if you don't know how to spell cat, which is why your tired old fingers typed cta.)
For ten years, I've wanted to get into Aquamarine and fix the bloody thing. Well --
It's fixed. And the new covers are glorious. Jade has delivered in spades this time, not only with the feature art for the cover, but with a whole raft more, which we just zipped into a free screensaver --
These and a bunch more like them have been zipped into a seductively tropical (or tropically seductive) show. Download it here:
The screensaver for Vista ... doesn't self-install. Extract it from this zip archive onto your desktop and right-click for a pop-up menu; and ...
The screensaver for XP ... DOES self-install. Extract it from this zip archive onto your desktop and double-click on it; the executable will do the rest.
"Watch This Space," to know instantly when AQUAMARINE goes up. (Incidentally, if you'd like to read outtakes, you can find them here: 40% of the book is online, right on the blog. The whole project goes up to the wesite next week.)
For the moment, enjoy the screensaver ... Sad to say, I gotta get back to work.
Cheers,
MK
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2 comments:
Hi Mel:
Just curious, how'd you stumble upon my blog? I'm going to have to come back when I have more time and read up on yours. The little bit I've read is great.
Hello!
On breaks from work I tend to get on a thread and chase links across continents. Occasionally someone mentions they just read something and not give a link ... so I'll google their quote -- which usually puts me on track. Consequently I find myself in places you couldn't predict or expect ... but you can certainly enjoy! I'm pretty sure I got to your blog from a comment you left on GDad's blog. My own is still so new, the plastic wrap's sticking to it in a couple places ... working on it ... and, thanks for visiting.
Cheers,
MK
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